When she was 6, Sarah Amspacher was hurt during a dark day in her kindergarten classroom. It changed her forever, and now she wants to use her experience to help others.

The 6-year-old didn't want to wear a dress to church. She kicked and screamed, her mother recalled.

Then, the kindergartner hid in a closet to avoid a service at Living Word Community Church.

Tracy Jordan sensed that her daughter's heart was closing.

Sarah had changed in the three months since a man wielding a machete attacked her classroom. He hit her, cut off part of her ponytail and cut her scalp. He hurt other children and staff.

A machete attack in Sarah Amspacher's kindergarten class at North Hopewell-Winterstown Elementary School has shaped the 19-year-old into a young woman who is very protective of young children, especially her sisters, like 7-year-old Lydia. (YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS--JASON PLOTKIN)

Tracy Jordan carried her daughter to the front of the church during a healing service that Sunday. The Rev. Steve Almquist prayed for Sarah's broken heart and for healing.

Sarah's journey over the years involved counseling, confiding in her mother and owning her faith.

The compassionate, empathetic young woman graduated from Red Lion Area Senior High School this spring, took a mission trip to Ethiopia this summer and will start college at Millersville University this month.

She wants to help children who don't have a voice. She knows from experience what a difference that can make.

A strange manin the classroom

Feb. 2, 2001, was beach day in Linda Collier's kindergarten classroom at North Hopewell-Winterstown Elementary School.

A new student in the class, Sarah was excited about beach day. She brought a towel and wore her hair in pigtails.

At the end of the day, Sarah was at the back of the classroom near the teacher's desk, packing her bag, when they heard a scream. She remembers a man in the classroom, swinging a machete -- although she didn't know at the time that's what it's called.

Collier jumped up, ran over to him and told him to leave the children alone. He hit the teacher with the machete.

Sarah Amspacher poses last month at the base of a memorial placed in a picnic area behind North Hopewell-Winterstown Elementary School. The plaque on the memorial reads: "Memories of the unselfish and courageous dedication to the care and well-being of the North Hopewell-Winterstown school students." (YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS--JASON PLOTKIN)

Then he walked up the aisles, swinging the machete.

"From there, everything goes black," Sarah said.

What she remembers next is the man coming up and hitting her on the shoulder with the machete.

She froze.

He turned around and saw she was still standing there. Sarah ran out of the room.

Minutes later, Sarah ended up in the principal's office. Principal Norina Bentzel and others who were injured were lying on one side of the room. Anyone who was hurt was told to go to that side, but Sarah didn't move.

Eventually, the uninjured students were moved back to the classroom. Sarah remembers seeing a huge puddle of blood right in the middle of the hallway. Back in the classroom, Sarah raised her hand and said she had been hit on the shoulder. She was taken back out.

As the medics checked the students to make sure they were OK, a classmate asked Sarah: What's wrong with your hair? Sarah's mom, who was now with her at the school, tried to tighten her pigtail, and a big wad of hair came out.

Later, they would find out that not only had he cut her hair, but as she ran, the blade had cut her scalp.

The scars

Sarah changed after the attack. The carefree and loving girl became untrusting and fearful, her mother recalls.

For about a year or more, for example, she slept at the doorway of her bedroom. It helped to provide her a sense of comfort.

Twelve years after being attacked by William Stankewicz at North Hopewell-Winterstown Elementary School, Sarah Amspacher has graduated from the Red Lion school district and will be attending Millersville University this fall. (YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS--JASON PLOTKIN)

Sarah went to counseling. As a parent, Jordan said, she was advised to keep asking her daughter what would make her feel safe and try to provide that comfort.

She learned to give her daughter choices to help her feel in control of some events in her life. She asked Sarah questions like what she wanted the family to have for dinner and which clothes Sarah wanted to wear.

Her daughter kept saying that only being with Jesus would make her feel safe.

That scared Jordan. She explained to Sarah that it wasn't her time yet. It's all in God's hands, and when Jesus wants to take her home, he will.

But for now, he has purpose for her here.

"Because if the Lord wanted to, he could have taken anybody that day," Jordan said. "The evil was there."

Angels watching over us

Faith and family played a large role in the healing of 19-year-old Sarah Amspacher. (YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS--JASON PLOTKIN)

Sarah believes guardian angels were in the school that day.

"God was just watching over us through that whole scenario," she said.

The Sandy Hook tragedy puts things into perspective for the young victims of the machete attack, now that they are older, Sarah said.

The attacker, William Michael Stankewicz, claimed at the time that, despite his history of mental illness and criminal history, he could have obtained "all the semi-automatic rifles a U-Haul truck could hold."

Instead, he chose a 2-foot-long machete.

If Stankewicz had obtained a gun, "our class would have ended up exactly like Sandy Hook," Sarah said.

It's scary, Sarah said, thinking of her two younger sisters.

"You honestly can't comprehend looking at a young child like that and imagining such harm upon them," she said.

It's not just physical harm but psychological, as well, Sarah said.

No one died that day. Stankewicz could have easily grabbed them and started slashing away. He probably could have gotten a better swing and cracked open her skull, Sarah said.

"That's not good, sissy," her 5-year-old sister, Ruth, said.

"No, sissy wouldn't be here," Sarah said.

"I'd miss you so much," Ruth responded. "I'm glad he didn't because I love you."

Opening up

Sarah said God has healed her emotionally to the point that she can talk about what happened. God gave her mother the wisdom to put her in counseling. And she was able to trust and talk with her mother about it.

She has talked about it with classmates who endured the attack, as well.

The attack, along with other challenges in her life, has helped her to become who she is today. She's cautious. She sits back and observes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, she said.

Sarah also said she has compassion and empathy.

Her mother describes Sarah as insightful. Because she's walked some challenging paths and she's had faith, Jordan said, God has blessed her with the ability and the wisdom to encourage others and to teach them.

Looking to the future

Sarah graduated cum laude from Red Lion Area Senior High School in June.

She participated in a mission trip to Sendafa, Ethiopia, through Living Word. She taught children about the digestive system and handed out vitamins. She also prayed with patients who have HIV or AIDS.

Through mission trips, church members are trying to build a foundation for the residents so they can help themselves and maybe others, Sarah said.

The bond she developed with the people and the team was so strong, Sarah said, she didn't want to come home. She plans to go back again.

Sarah also has served as a small group leader at Living Word. Sarah said she advises the fifth-grade girls about what music they shouldn't be listening to and that they are too young to have a boyfriend.

She listens to them and shares about her own life, including the attack. Sarah said the students understand that they can talk to her and are not going to be judged.

Sarah will head to Millersville University in the fall. She plans to major in social work and minor in psychology.

She wants to work with at-risk children.

Her ultimate dream is to create a Christian-based camp for children. The counselors would look for signs of abuse and how they could help the children.

Many children do not have a voice, she said.

In general, children are viewed as not knowing anything and are often drowned out. Many parents aren't parenting, Sarah said.

Sarah said she'd love to give them a foundation they need to overcome life's struggles, such as abuse, neglect or death.

Looking back, Sarah said, if her mother had not fought for her the way she did, she would probably have gotten into trouble.

Healing service

On a recent Sunday morning, Sarah swayed as a band praised Jesus during a healing service at Living Word.

"Heal us, forgive us; restore our hearts again," the band sang.

Nearby, Sarah's mom clapped along.

Jesus heals people, the Rev. Steve Almquist told the congregation. He referenced the fifth chapter of James, which calls upon people to pray for those who are sick.

Sarah said she believes everything happens for a reason. There's a purpose in all of it.

"I'm sure the future will show me exactly what it's for -- why God saved us that day, why we weren't hurt worse," she said. "God will use this, and God will use our story. It's just a matter of when and how and where."

Pastor's statement

The Rev. Steve Almquist, senior pastor at Living Word Community Church, offered this statement about Sarah and her faith:

"As a church we are proud of what Sarah has overcome and how she has grown through her trust in Jesus. Sarah's heart of service is evident here in our church as well as her work in short-term mission trips to Ethiopia with children and families in impoverished communities."

About Stankewicz

William Michael Stankewicz injured the principal, two teachers and 11 kindergarten students during the machete attack at North Hopewell-Winterstown Elementary School on Feb. 2, 2001.

He pleaded guilty and is serving 132 to 264 years in prison.

Stankewicz blamed the attack on his ex-wife, her divorce attorney and the then U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

His ex-wife's children had attended North Hopewell-Winterstown in the past but were not students there at the time of the attack.

Describing her daughter

Tracy Jordan asked family and friends to write letters, share stories or offer words of encouragement to Sarah for her 16th birthday a few years ago. The writings were placed in a scrapbook as a surprise for Sarah. Here is an excerpt of what Jordan wrote:

"A pearl is formed when an uninvited foreign substance enters into an oyster. This substance is usually a grain of sand that irritates the oyster. In response, the oyster surrounds this irritant...once the oyster accepts this irritating substance as part of itself, the pearl begins to form. Many years pass by, storms come and go, and when the oyster is one day pulled from the bed of sand, it is opened to reveal a beautiful, one-of-a kind-pearl! That is our Sarah! She has traveled the world in difficult circumstances and trials. She has not only persevered, but she has been strength to many around her. She blesses each of us who knows her! She is a precious gem within our lives! Sarah chooses to accept the irritants in her life and surround them with her bold faith. She continues to be refined and transformed by her Lord's love and through His grace. .....Won't you celebrate with us, our one-of a-kind, exquisite, high quality, rare, lovely, simple yet elegant young lady.....Our Sarah."